Most whistleblowers do not start out to blow the whistle on anyone.
They simply do what they think they ought to be doing. This is especially
true of professional people, who when acting within the accepted practices
and ethics of their profession sometimes find themselves vilified as whistleblowers
when, in their minds, they are merely professionals carrying out their
professional responsibility. The classic description of this phenomenon
appears in a play written in 1882 by Henrik Ibsen called An Enemy of the
People. The play's protagonist, a physician living in a resort town, finds
himself unanimously branded a public enemy because he maintains that the
town's economic base, a tourist spa, is polluted and should be closed for
expensive repairs. (This play should be required reading in all professional
schools.)

It is important to remember that one becomes a whistleblower not because
he thinks of himself as such, but because others view him as a whistleblower.

Most nascent whistleblowers (who may not consider themselves whistleblowers)
will back down when they find strong opposition from their employers, peers,
or colleagues. A few, convinced that they are right and will be vindicated,
will press on in spite of the opposition. This is usually accompanied by
a belief that it is just a big misunderstanding and that the appropriate
authority or authority figure will straighten it all out once they understand
what it is all about. (I call this the "Stalin syndrome" after the character
in a novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn who feels that his unjust imprisonment
at the hand of Soviet authorities would end "if only Stalin knew.")

Sooner or later they find out that "Stalin" does know or doesn't care
and that they alone must face the cold winds of vilification. At this point,
most of the few who have come this far decide it isn't worth it. They will
enter a state of purgatory where they will pull in their horns, keep a
low profile and hope to purge themselves. Sometimes, after a suitable period
of obeisance, their whistleblowing is chalked up to youthful indiscretion
(or mid-life crisis) and they are restored to the good graces of the-powers-that-be.
Sometimes not. Sometimes the harassment never stops, forcing the whistleblower
to change jobs, locations, or professions. Some end up digging ditches.
Some even die. But some fight back. This is the hard-core whistleblower.
He's angry. He knows he's right and he wants vindication, often with a
damn-the-consequences attitude.

My advice to people, in general, is don't be a whistleblower. Avoid
open challenge or defiance of authority or power. Try to satisfy your conscience
or your sense of duty without getting personally involved. For example
you can leak stuff to a known whistleblower who is willing to take the
heat, or to an activist organization, or to a plaintiff's attorney. Leaking
to politicians and the press, on the other hand, is a tricky business and
can easily blow your cover whereas there is a better chance of remaining
anonymous by dealing with activists. A word of caution, however; if the-powers-that-be
figure out who the leaker is and harass him, he has greater legal protection
if he leaked to Congress or the press than if he leaked anonymously.

The next thing I would advise a prospective whistleblower is to know
the law, the rules and one's rights
long before you start out. Know
what to expect by talking to people who have been down the road. Read books
and articles about whistleblowers and whistleblower protection laws. Small
subtle differences on how you blow the whistle, what you blow it on and
where you blow it can make big differences in the kind of legal protection
you have. If legal counsel is needed, get the name of an attorney who specializes
in whistleblower law from an activist group.
Do not rely on local attorneys. They are probably not familiar with the
laws protecting whistleblowers and they are often subject to local pressures
which may be against your interests.

If you have taken the first step but are short of being a hardcore whistleblower
then keep a low profile. Don't make unnecessary waves. But don't kid yourself.
With a few exceptions, management prizes loyalty above competence. Therefore,
protect yourself against the possibility of future harassment. Keep good
contemporaneous records, i.e. meeting notes, phone logs, calendar, diary
etc. These carry a lot of weight in legal proceedings, much more so than
accounts written months after the fact. Do not let false accusations of
misconduct, especially written charges, go unanswered, but be polite, diplomatic,
and respectful in your response.

However, if you elect to become a hard-core whistleblower, then elect
it, don't stumble into it. Don't count on having your cake and eating it.
Don't think you can continue defying the-powers- that-be and still enjoy
the same lifestyle as before just because you are right or acting within
the confines of your profession. Many whistleblowers have been destroyed
by that kind of naivete (or professional arrogance).

Hard-core whistle-blowing is an entirely different game. Here the object
is to protect yourself by keeping a high profile. Seek out the constituency
that you are benefiting by your whistleblowing activities and work with
them so that they can protect you as you help them. Learn effective techniques
for dealing with the press, Congress, and other politicians.

To my mind, Martin Luther is the perfect model of the professional turned
hard-core whistleblower. He was an ordained priest and a doctor of theology.
In his professional capacity as a parish priest and professor of theology
at the University of Wittenberg he raised certain moral and theological
issues for debate. These received widespread publicity and were viewed
as a challenge to the church by the hierarchy who proceeded to harass Luther.
Rather than back down, Luther formed alliances with the public and the
powerful north German princes who shared his views and defied the authority
of the church. Protected by a bodyguard of German knights, he stood at
the Diet of Worms, convened to drive him into submission, and spoke the
words which can serve as the credo of the hard-core whistleblower: "Here
I stand. I cannot do otherwise."

Luther recognized (what many whistleblowers fail to acknowledge) that
having publicly confronted the-powers-that-be head-on he could never return
to the life he led before. Instead, with the help of his allies, he carved
out a new life for himself. In doing so he had to make many changes and
develop many new skills but he took command of his life and never allowed
himself to became a victim.